~ Year of the Horse - 恭喜发财 ~

大年初一, first day of Chinese New Year, is the most hectic day of the celebration for our family. After only catching a few hours of sleep, we were up early at 6 plus in the morning getting ready to doll up and go to my in-laws place.

Denver & Gladys were neatly dressed in their traditional costume to go 拜年.

Gladys looking neat and pretty 

Denver with his Korean style beady eyes and smile. 

Its a tradition to go to the temple first to offer our prayers for good luck, good health and good fortune. 

Our kiddos posing at the temple - looking great! :)

CNY is not the same without visiting our relatives and hopping from house to house. Apart from collecting the red packets (ang pow), this is also the golden opportunity for the children to play games and munch on CNY goodies.

This bowl of home-made agar agar, specially made by Hubby's 3rd uncle is what we have been craving for every Chinese New Year. It's sweetness and fragrance is made to perfection that we only have the luxury to taste it during the festive season.

Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple (四马路观音堂) is one of the temples that we will visit during the CNY period. Unlike the previous years, we decided to brave through the heat and crowd, patiently joining the queue to enter the temple. Many stalls stationed along the queue, were selling joss-stick (发财香). The heat gets even more intense with smoke hovering around us making our wait challenging and difficult.

Lucky for us, we managed to enter the temple and offer our prayers after 15 minutes. 

God of Fortune

It is a tradition for married daughters to visit their parents on the second day to avoid being dis-respectful to their husband. However, with the new generation, many has made their visit on the first day, like myself. Going to my mom's place for lunch also serves as a resting point after visiting a couple of places in the morning.

Denver & Gladys with their Grandma.

More visiting after we re-energized our bodies! Our children interacting with their cousins and grabbing every opportunity for a quick game.

Games room for the boys!

Home-made agar agar by Big Brother-in-law

 Lots of CNY goodies to 'clear'!

Day 2 (初二) was dedicated for more temples visiting. :) 

Family photo on Day 2

We were up early again on the second day and our first destination was Koo Chye Ba Sheng Hong Temple (韭菜芭城隍庙). We were just in time for Lion dance performance too!

Every year without fail, our kiddos will sit on this horse statue. This year it has a greater significant since it is the Year of the Horse!

Our family stamp with pictures of us and our animal zodiac.

Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple (洛阳大伯公) is another favourite location during the CNY period attracting a huge crowd, who came to pray for good blessings for the year.

Spotted any lucky numbers on this Horse?

Long queue was formed to get an angpow with a lucky coin and 4D number.

Free red bean soup, mineral water and newspaper for the public.

As part of the celebration, two horses were 'invited' to Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple. Public queued to take pictures with them.

Praying sincerely at the temples for a smooth sailing year ahead is also part of our CNY festive celebration. We hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend and wishing everyone a Prosperous and Happy New Year.

快马加鞭祝愿大家：

龙马精神，马到功成，一马当先，万马奔腾